Cloth nappies - sensible approach?

[epsilon]

I'm not buying anything yet, and probably won't until October or so, but planning is fun!

All the advice seems to be to start with a variety of brands and types of cloth nappies, since until the baby's born, you don't know what shape/size (and in my case sex) etc it will be, but obviously you also need enough to be going on with.

So my thought is to have a couple of dozen terry squares, plus 12 or 24 muslin squares, and all the accessories (liners, wraps of a few different types, bucket, nippas, wet bags, mesh bag...) and a few each of different types of newborn-sized modern cloth nappies. Does this sound OK? I think you can get starter kits with all the gear plus a few terries (from Mothercare as well websites).

Does anyone have any particular recommendations for someone with no tumble dryer and living in a hard-water area? I've heard good things about Tot Bots teenyfit and Nature Babies diddy diapers. Also, apparently bamboo is good at staying soft in hard water. I figure once I know what I like, I can sell the hardly-used 'other' types and stock up on the ones I do.

 

[Rachel_C]

Terries are a fairly good idea as they are very versatile. However, standard size ones will be HUGE on a newborn. It's ok if you don't mind the bulk but I'm not talking normal cloth nappy bulk, I'm talking bum the size of a basketball bulk So you might want to look at smaller ones or cut some down. However then you won't be able to use them as terries forever, just as boosters later on.

I wouldn't bother with muslins as nappies, especially if you're getting terries. They'd only be useful for the first week maybe, then would need boosting so much you'd be better off buying proper nappies.

Bamboo is not very good at staying soft in hard water, it will go very crispy after a while. It's not quite as bad as cotton but it's not great. Without a tumble dryer it will be a lot worse.

Your best bet for quick drying without a dryer is microfibre really. It dries quicker than natural fabrics and stays soft and flexible. Minky is a specific type of microfibre that stays even softer and has the benefit of being ok in direct contact with LO's skin, unlike standard microfibre.

I would aim for 4-5 different nappies in newborn/small size with maybe 3-4 of each and I'd get a dozen terries too (plus maybe a dozen newborn size ones). That should be enough to see you through the early weeks. Of course some of the shaped nappies may not fit but with 5 different types you'd be VERY unlucky if at least 15 didn't fit! The terries would be good backup but bear in mind that in hard water without tumble drying they will go pretty crispy even if you get bamboo ones. I would definitely look at adding water softener to your washes - Calgon, supermarket versions or soda crystals, doesn't matter which. I notice a huge difference using it.

 

[epsilon]

Thanks for your reply.

Given terries are relatively cheap I don't mind chopping some of them up to make them 'newborn size' - given the standard is 60x60cm, what would newborn size be? I've seen some for sale that are 40x40cm, does that sound about right? 30x30cm would be good, since I could cut a big one into quarters! I suppose I could cut one 12-pack into different sizes 30cm sq, 40 and 50... And then have a 12-pack of standard size for later, or if it's big and/or a fast grower.

I've probably mis-remembered the thing about bamboo... How about Thirsties duo fab fitted? I was thinking about just using white vinegar as a softener, and avoiding drying on radiators if possible. I think shaking / twisting them before they're properly dry helps (it does with towels anyway).

Any particular recommendations for brands/types?

 

[Rachel_C]

I think 40x40 is the smallest I'd go. Remember that they do shrink a bit so 40x40 won't actually stay 40x40. If you cut them to 30x30 I think that would end up too small for most folds unless you had a tiny baby. If you cut them to 40x40 or 50x50, you could just keep the offcuts as boosters to lay in them.

The Duo Fab fitted is ok, it dries relatively quickly BUT it isn't terribly absorbent. The outer is cotton velour I think so it could go pretty crispy quite quickly.

I wouldn't use vinegar on nappies as it is too harsh for elastic and PUL and maybe for some of the more delicate fabrics like bamboo. I would just use normal water softener. Soda crystals are dirt cheap. I probably wouldn't twist them either, it could damage elastic or PUL and pop stitches!

I don't think you'll find it as much of a problem as you think. We used to have very hard water and I didn't think to use water softener. We didn't have a tumble dryer either. I wouldn't use nappies with bamboo, cotton or hemp directly in contact with LO's skin as they will go pretty crunchy and could rub, but you can just use a big liner to cover the inside of the nappy or choose nappies that have suedecloth or fleece as the inner layer anyway. If you use water softener you will notice a big difference, I did anyway, and then you can use even less detergent so it pays for itself easily.

If you want bamboo nappies for the day, I would look at ones with a microfibre core to speed up drying time. The Tots Bots Bamboozle Stretch is a good example; it has a microfibre/minky core so dries a lot more quickly than a pure bamboo fitted. I would steer clear of hemp unless it's hemp jersey like the Thirsties inserts/prefolds. When it's difficult to get nappies dry quickly, I'd say to go for mostly microfibre nappies that you can boost with natural fabrics, so a Flip stay dry for example (not for newborn though), microfibre/minky pocket nappies, perhaps the Tots Bots Easyfit/Teenyfit V3. Or if you want natural fibres, go for nappies that open out a lot, like flats or nappies with trifold inserts.

 

[conschofield]

Right now my favorite is my Sustainable babyish. It keeps my little man dry all night, which is a big feat!

 

[mistyscott]

We don't have a tumble dryer and also live in a v hard water area (must add calgon to shopping list...) and when LO was first born we used:
Thirsties duo fab fitted, with duo wrap - good for nights in our experience, and only went a bit crispy. LO soon started out peeing them though.
TB easyfits (v1) and one teenyfit - as above really. Good until LO started outpeeing them at 6/7wks ish
Rumparooz pockets - love these then and now, great double insert and shaped one for newborns. Very quick to dry. Also very pretty patterns...
Bambooty easy nights - didn't really get on with these, not very absorbent and came up very small for us so only got few weeks use out of the small size. Took ages to dry too.
Bumgenius XS - got on well with these until out grew at 6/7wks and very quick to dry. In hindsight not great absorbency and lots of leaks - but we had lots of leaks in general with our big wetter!
TB bamboozle stretchy - great little nappy, we started with size 1 and only recently went to size 2. Doesn't get particularly crispy that I've noticed, in fact might be our softest do take a while to dry though (24-48hrs depending on weather)
Flip with organic insert - massive on a newborn and still don't use it much. Insert takes an age to dry.

When LO was about 14wks we got a job lot of motherease shaped terries with poppers, and tbh we haven't looked back dry overnight generally, leak and poosplosion proof and bought 18 plus wraps for £40 on eBay.
For nights we have 4 little lamb bamboo nappies and a wee notions night nappy. The former take 2 days to completely dry, but the latter is usually dry after 24hrs.

They all go a little bit crispy I think without tumble drying, but not so much as I've noticed.

HTH, and congrats

 

[Rachel_C]

If you don't have a tumble dryer, you probably won't notice the level of crispiness TBH. I didn't think it was that bad until we got a dryer and then again when I started using softener. It's what you're used to I think, so I wouldn't worry too much about it!

 

[hanelei]

I wouldn't use nappies with bamboo, cotton or hemp directly in contact with LO's skin as they will go pretty crunchy and could rub, but you can just use a big liner to cover the inside of the nappy or choose nappies that have suedecloth or fleece as the inner layer anyway.

I just wanted to say that I don't own a dryer and have fairly hard water, and while my nappies are not quite as soft as they would be out of a dryer, I wouldn't call them crunchy or crisp. I have cotton velour fitteds, bamboo fitteds, birdseye cotton flats and cotton prefolds plus Itti Bitti hemp inserts- the prefolds, some of the nappies with cotton velour inners and Itti Bittis in particular have been used for quite a long time. Have had no issues with rubbing, marks or chafing from these in 14 months cloth nappying a baby whose skin goes red quite easily if it's irritated.

 

[Rachel_C]

As I said, it's what you're used to. If you don't ever use a tumble dryer, you won't notice the crispy feel.

 

[Aunty E]

My vote is for soda crystals - we use them and they're cheap as chips and do the trick. I cut my Terries down to 50cm by 50cm which was perfect in an origami fold for a newborn. I passed mine on after teddy, but they were handy as sick cloths in between babies

Terries dry so quickly as well, so are great if you're not tumbling. I give mine a good flap before I fold them, which gets rid of a lot of the crispness.

 

[Kess]

We have VERY hard water and no tumble dryer. I just have enough nappies that even my bamboo fitteds are dry by the time I need them . But then I'm a self-confessed fluff addict who can't resist pretties so have far more nappies than I strictly need. I agree you don't really notice the crispiness too much. I just give my boosters a bit of a scrunch before putting them in which deals with it. That said, the one thing I would avoid is hemp. I have one swaddlebees hemp booster and it needs beating up quite a bit to stop it being stiff as a board!

 

[Leila Fae]

Stupid question: do you put the soda crystals in with the washing powder and how much do you put in for a wash with say 10 nappies? Also is this an occasional thing to do rather than with every wash?

I'm currently tumble drying my nappies but would prefer not to every time while it's still (technically!) summer.

 

[Rachel_C]

Yep, put it in with the washing powder. I've been using 25g which is about 35mls in one of those measuring cup things I think, or just a good shake of the box! If you're using it to soften the water you need to do it every wash.

 

[epsilon]

Thanks everyone - lots of good tips!

To be clear, I was only talking about shaking/twisting terries - not anything else. I shall have to start stalking the 2nd hand sites to find some of the types everyone's been suggesting. I wonder how long my resolve not to buy anything yet will last?

 

[hanelei]

As I said, it's what you're used to. If you don't ever use a tumble dryer, you won't notice the crispy feel.

I have used a tumble dryer though, on visits to my parents' house- I can feel that the nappies are slightly softer and prefolds quilt up better if tumble dried, however, crispy or crunchy when I line dry them? Nope- maybe it depends on the washing machine or detergent? Seriously, I would notice.

 

[Rachel_C]

I'm not going to debate with you whether you consider your nappies crunchy or not!

It is very common for people to describe nappies that haven't been tumbled or are washed in hard water as crunchy or crispy; whether you experience that or not doesn't mean much to those people. It's not to do with the washing machine or the detergent, it's to do with the way the fibres dry when not tumbled and the deposits left in fabric by hard water. If you disagree that's fine but it is subjective and many people experience the crunchiness. In fact the OP mentioned that her towels don't feel soft so she already does experience it with them; it's reasonable to assume that she'll experience the same with nappies.